Internal-combustion engine



E. E. McCOLLUM.

INTERNAL COMBUSTiON ENGINE.

APPLICATION men JAN. I5. 1911.

Patented June 3, mm.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

E. E. McCOLLUM.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 15. 19:1.

Lfifi a Patented June 3, 1919.

2 SHETS-SHEET 2.

EARL MM QLLUIM, 0F DO'WNERS GROVE, ILLINOIS.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters ma. P t nted June 3, 1919.

Application filed January 15, 1917. Serial No. 142,334.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that l, EARL E. McCoLLUM, a citizen of the United States,residing .at Downers Grove, in the county of D'upage and State fIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a specificaion.

This invention-relates to improvements in internal combustion engines.

One of the objects of my invention is to arrange or position thecylinders in a multicylinder gas engine, whereby a single rotary valvemay be utilized to control both inlet and exhaust passages of all thecylinders.

Another object of my invention is to pro.- vide a rotary valve or suchconstruction as to permit its being utilized to control both the inletand exhaust passages for a plurality of cylinders. I

A still furthencbject or my invention is to so correlate the valves,cylinders and ports of an internal combustion engine as to insureeflicient operation in an engine of simple and sturdy construction. I

Still other and further objects will become apparent to those skilled inthe art from a consideration of the following description and drawing,wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved engine and valve, withthe valve cover removed,

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1,and v Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on'the line 3-3 of Fig. 1showing the valve detached and on a reduced s ale. F

In general the engine comprises, acrank case A with bottom closure wallB and a top closure wall C, upon which are cast: the four cylinders D,E, F and G. The cylinders are divided into two pairs D and E, extendingpossible to bring them all into close relationship to the valve H whichis so designed as to serve as inlet and exhaust controlling valves foreach of the four cylinders.

The valve H is positioned approximately centrally with respect to thecrank casing and is so arranged that four ducts D E F and G connect thefour cylinderswith the valve casing, each duct serving as both inlet andexhaust passages.

A preferred form of rotary valve is illustrated in Figs.,1, 2 and 3,with an annular casing 10 provided with a cooling water pas sage 11 towhich suitable connection is made.

The upper lid. or cap of the casing comprises a dome shaped chamber '12having an annular flange 13 for coaction with the upper flange on theannular casing 10 to which it is secured. This upper dome shaped cover12 serves as a passage way for the exhaust gases 3 forthe combustiblemixture which is taken into the casing through the flanged opening 17,to which the carbureter is attached.

The valve itself comprises a taper drum 18, having two ports 19 and 20,opening to its periphery, the one extending upwardly, as at 21, to serveas an exhaust port, and the other extending downwardly, as at 22, toserve as an inlet port. The valve H rotating within its annular casing10, has its downwardly extending inlet port 22, at all times opening tothe intake duct 15, whereas its upwardly extending exhaust port 21 atall times communicateswith the upper cap or exhaust duct 12. Inlet andexhaust ports are positioned approximately 90 degrees apart around theperiphery of the valve, and the valve traveling in a clockwisedirection, looking at Fig. 1, obviousl serves'the cylinders in thefollowing or erD, F, G and E,-or to give their numerical order from thefront, 1, 2, 4 and 3.

The valve is rotated by a substantially vertically extending shaft 23,which projects upwardly through the crank case cover 0, its lower endextending downwardly to its driving mechanism, and its upper endprojecting through the lower wall of the intake passage, and fastenedwithin the centrally positioned tubular hub. The shaft 23 may behollowed. as indicated at 23 to carry all from the crank case to therubbing surfaces of the valve, suitable ducts 23 being provided withinthe valve for its distribution and a pump of any suitable type may beconnected to the lower end of the shaft. The valve is substantiallyhollow to provide a cooling water passage, its upper end having ahollowdome 25 communicating with the vertically extending axially positionedpipe 26 through which the cooling water is carried away from the valve.The lower end of the valve extends downwardly in the form of a hub 27which is drilled out, providing a plurality of water channels 28, whichcommunicate at their lower ends with the. interior of a bored outcasting 29, into which leads a cooling water carrying pipe 30. The lowerend of the casting 29 is provided with a packing 31 which is held inposition on the rotating shaft 23 by means of a collar 32, secured tothe shaft by means of aset screw. The upper end of the casting 29 isalso provided with a water tight packing 33, the packing nut of whichis; threaded upon the downwardly extending nipple 34 of the inletpassage 15. The upwardly extending pipe 26 projects through by means ofa valve driving gearing, operating upon the same principle-as thatillustrated and described in my copending application Serial No. 19,285filed April 5th, 1915 and entitled Valve gearing mechanism. In thisearlier filed application, abov'e referred to, mechanism is shown fordriving a rotary valve with the movement of the valve at a rateapproximately proportional to the cosine of the crank angle. By

this means I am enabled to drive my rotary valve so that the ports arequickly opened and closed, the valve slowing up between the opening andclosing movement, so as to permit a substantial dwell to permit thegases to have free course through the passageways.

In the present application I have indicated a valve driving mechanisminclosed within the crank case of the engine and driven from aneccentric 50 on the crank shaft. This valve driving mechanism isillustrated and described in detail in my copending application SerialNo. 116,769 filed August 25th, 1916 and entitled Internal combustionengines, of which application the present is a division.

The movement of this valve driving mechanism indicated in general by theletter X, receives its movement from the eccentric 50 and rotates thevalve driving shaft 23 at a variable speed, as above described.

Whereas I have illustrated and described a single embodiment of myinvention it will be obvious that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of thefollowing claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is':

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a single rotaryvalve mounted on a substantially vertical axis and having an inlet andexhaust port therein, a plurality'of cylinders, a crank casing uponwhich said cylinders are mounted, and a substantially vertical shaftextending from said crank casing upwardly to said valve for rotating thesame, said substantially vertical shaft having an opening therein forconducting lubricants from the crank casing to the valve, said valvehaving ducts in communication with said opening in the vertical shaft.said ducts leading to the periphery of the valve.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a singlerotary water jacketed valve; a plurality of cylinders served by said.valve; a crank casing upon which the cylinders are mounted; avsubstantially vertical'hollow shaft extending from the casing upwardlyinto said valve, through which oil may be passed from the crank casingto lubricate the valve; a conduit surrounding said shaft through whichto conduct cooling water to said jacket and an outlet for said jacket atthe top of the valve.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand.

' EAR-L E. MGCOLLUM.

